LEGEND FC ceasing operation, transferring fighters’ contracts

BloodyElbow.com has reported that Legend Fighting Championship, based out of Hong Kong, has ceased operations due to their primary investor withdrawing from the venture. Fighters’ contracts are being negotiated to other promotions, sources close to the situation have confirmed to MMA-in-ASIA.

Legend FC held their first card in Hong Kong in January of 2010, on the cusp of the blossoming MMA scene in Asia. There were only a few events being regularly held in Southeast Asia and China at the time, like Art Of War and the URCC. For comparison to Legend FC’s beginning, Martial Combat held their events starting four months after; PXC held their first event in Manila a year and five months after; RUFF breached the China market a year and seven months later; and ONE FC started in Southeast Asia a year and eight months after. Legend FC began with events in Hong Kong, then moved next door to the casino city of Macau with a City Of Dreams 4-fight deal. They looked to take the show on the road after that, and held one event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which was Legend FC 11, their final event. Unfortunately, it appears that Legend FC will also be the first of them to stop.

Legend FC had tremendous matchmaking, and was able to get some of the rising and top talent out of their prospective countries – often for the first time – to compete on one stage. Fighters such as Bae MyoungHo, Nam YuiChul, and Kwon ASol from South Korea: Jadamba from Mongolia, Keita Nakamura, Koji Oishi, and Koji Ando from Japan; Wang Guan, Jumabieke, and Li JingLiang from China; Adrian Pang, Rob Lisita, and Rob Whittaker from Australia, and many other notables from the AustralAsian region.

Some of the greatest matches in Legend FC would be the trilogy between Adrian Pang (now a coach on TUF Australia) and Nam YuiChul (current ROAD FC Lightweight Champion) for the inaugural belt; Jadamba’s wrestling of the belt away from Pang; Rob Hill’s bloody battle with Koji Oishi; and Rob Lisita’s blockbuster war with Yusuke Kawanago. Many of these fighters have already been appearing in other promotions. The unfortunate news sees the roster of very exciting champions in search of new foundations. Here is the list of reigning title holders to be watching for movement: